Sunday, 11 December 2016

God moment.

I
wonder, what is a God moment? I guess
it is different for different people. You may have a “God moment” convicting
you to walk down that aisle in tears to accept Jesus. Or you may have a “God
moment” when you hear a still small voice telling you that the woman sitting
beside you is going to be your wife. Still others may have a “God moment” when
they feel an affirmation from within that their interpretation of the scripture
is the right one.

God
moments come in many forms and I believe they are seldom in an audible voice.
At times, it could be voices in your head nudging you to sign up for a mission,
give half of what you have to the church, or resign from your daytime job to
enter full time ministry. These are spontaneous moments that don't prepare you
at all. They come like a sudden flash in the sky and sweep you off your feet to
do or say things that are uncharacteristic of you.

God
moment often changes you, inspires you, guides you, counsels you, encourages
you, wakes you up, or renews you afresh. They are a jolt from heaven to
transform the trajectory of your life from one of routine and schedule to one
that is unprecedented and unplanned. So, here comes my point.

In
September this year, during one of the hearings of the City Harvest Church(CHC) appeal, a pioneer member, Teo Hsin Yi, “blogged
about how one of the lawyers defending the accused, had a ‘God moment”.

Teo
was there, seated, and in rapt attention when Tan Ye Peng’s lawyer (Mr
Sreenivasan) told the Justices that he had visited CHC after taking up the case
in order to understand the church better. He wanted to know how it was run, how
the church conducted itself, what was in the mind of the members, and how they
ticked on a typical service. And this is what was reported in Teo’s blog about Mr.
Sreenivasan’s opening statement:-

“She
explained how Mr Sreenivasan appealed to the judges to take a step back to
understand that the way the church thinks and makes decisions may seem rather
illogical to those outside the church – but that it did not mean that they are
wrong. “He cited an example of how, when he saw his mother performing Hindu
rites, his educated mind did not agree, yet the fact remained that she was not
wrong in what she believed and did.” Mr Sreenivasan therefore urged the Court
to not to use a secular yardstick to measure religious intent and actions.”

Well, I don’t know whether
Mr Sreenivasan personally felt at that time that he was experiencing a God
moment, but it was definitely a God moment for Teo.

She gushed: “My heart was
moved. Here was a man who did not share the same faith as us, yet he spoke with
such genuine understanding.” As the Court session ended, it reported that “Teo
wished that those from the outside would make an attempt to walk in the CHC
members’ skin and, “perhaps, see that in the light of eternity, the Crossover
was never a loss but a gain.””

Now, to be honest, Kong Hee
and Sun Ho have been busy evangelizing to thousands across Asia, in particular
Malaysia, and even in Japan. Their efforts are tireless, and notwithstanding
the legal entanglement and all, this pastoral couple is relentless in their
focus, attention and ambition. And seen in that light, maybe Teo has a point to
say that “in the light of eternity, the
Crossover was never a loss but a gain.”

…or maybe not?

Well, I am not here to judge
about that, that is, whether it is a total gain, a net gain or even a net loss.
Neither am I able to discern a God moment there. Maybe only time will tell.
Like what LKY once said, and I paraphrase, that history will either vindicate
or vilify him. Either ways, the die is cast, the deeds are done, and the words
dispatched, and indeed, only time will be the final arbiter of what is right or
wrong, what is black or white, and what is net gain or loss.

Here is an extension of my
thought about historical vindication with passing time. Some historians are
saying that Genghis Khan had unified China and the Central Asia tribes, and he
is the greatest military strategist of all time. Modern civilization therefore owes
him a debt. There is even a book published that credits him for bringing about
religious flourish, tolerance and diversity under his brutal rule. It is also
believed that some of the Khan rulers (who married Christian wives) may be
Christians (of the Nestorian kind).

Yet, this is also the same
man, the great conqueror of East Asia that is, who is believed to have uttered
these words: “The greatest happiness is to scatter your enemy, to drive him
before you, to see his cities reduced to ashes, to see those who love him
shrouded in tears, and to gather into your bosom his wives and daughters.”

So, good luck trying to
figure out the net gain and loss from the ripple effect of the Mongol rulership
from then till the modern era. The scoreboard and verdict are still out there­­­­
I guess. And it really depends on who’s
asking and who’s answering right?

If you fast forward to the
recent Time Magazine’s Person of the Year, you will note that Donald Trump
fronted it with this caption: “The President of the Disunited States of
America.” Again, we will never know whether the era of Trump will be one of net
gain or loss. And on this, I pray that time will be kind to us.

Now, going back to the
Crossover project, what can I say about its long term effect? Is Teo right
about the bountiful harvest that awaits? Are the pastoral couple the new name
in evangelism? Have we misunderstood God? While some net gain is patently
obvious like the seeds sown by martyrs who lived and died with their integrity
intact, honor unblemished and sacrifice rewarded, others are less
straightforward like the life and continuing times of Kong Hee and Sun Ho.

No doubt, their ministry has
seen thousands of lives transformed for the glory of God, with testimonies
after testimonies of gratitude, love and de­­­­votion.

But there are also others,
many of them, who are disillusioned, discouraged and lost. Since the legal saga
in 2012, thousands have left the church and no one can tell for sure where they
went – that is, have they gone to New Creation Church or other mainstream
churches? Have they backslided? Have they become atheists? Have they converted
to another religion? Or are they still bitter and angry from the experience? If
Chew Eng Han is anything to go by, I guess the scoreboard and verdict are still
out there?

After all is said and done, and
in the light of eternity, there is only one thing that each believer can be
sure about, and that is his/her accountability to God. And this is personal and
intimately so. Each of us is accountable. We are accountable for our gift, our
talent, our words, our actions, our thoughts, our plans, and our execution. Lay
persons and church leaders alike are all accountable. And I believe no matter
how (positionally) justified we are in Christ, the sanctifying works of the
Spirit that endures in our lifetime till our last breath will make sure that we
are ready to give an account of the things we have done or not done, said or
not said. And this is not legalism mind you, it's about personal
responsibility.

So, whether it was a God
moment or not, a gain or loss, Teo can't escape the conclusion that her pastors
stand before the searchlight of God to give an account of the gift, talent and
funds entrusted to them under their charge and responsibility. Some may stand
behind Kong Hee and Sun and say that they have nothing to hide, everything they
have done is above board, and their conscience is clear.

But others may beg to defer,
and still others would find the couple’s obstinate fight for their innocence
wholly incredulous.

Nevertheless, I would end
here with Kong Hee’s own words. He once preached that “we must have a balance
(between grace and repentance).” He quoted Jude 3 and 4 and said to the effect
that “one generation after the death (of Christ), the Gospel of grace was
distorted into something terrible and immoral. Some may have diluted the grace
of God to accommodate their lifestyle.”

I guess we are all guilty of
taking God’s grace for granted, misinterpreting it to suit our lifestyle at any
one point in our life. It is really a matter of degree here (on the abuse of
grace) even for the sincerest of believers. That is why Kong Hee’s call for a
balance between grace and repentance ministered to me. And regardless of the
result of the appeal, I hope this needful balance similarly ministers to him
too, that is, the need to reflect deeply on the tumultuous trial and verdict,
and what Judge See had said about the leadership of City Harvest Church (especially Kong Hee’s “personal dominance and deep insecurity” and the
mythical ring of Gyges). Cheerz.

1 comment:

I am so happy that Brother Michael wrote this. It's so important no matter what our convictions are, whether as a Christian, a Buddhist or a Hindu...we are human beings on this earth and whatever we do, we do it based on our convictions, be it honesty or morality or religious or with conscience or with greed or with pride...Convictions are the only reason why we continue to live - at least for me...I have been to charismatic churches like New Creation, Cornerstone, COOS, Lighthouse and other smaller churches and Catholic and Protestant Churches and also to buddhist meetings...there is no right or no wrong except that each has their own doctrines to justify why they think in their way or how they act in their fashion..because they have their convictions .....in their own justification of why they do it their way. Like why they pray in that way, why they donate or tithe, why they criticise others and how they stand on their own ground irregardless the society views...this makes it such that their groups become a normal church, a normal temple or a normal gathering or a cult.

At the end, in the religious circles, we understand or they understand as LET GOD or a Divine Being be the Judge of all....their actions right or wrong...However in this material world or human world, the Judge sitting in the Court of Law is too influenced by a set of norms that he has to abide by...This human judge will have a set of rules or procedures to guide him and precedents are there to ensure conformity and regularity. If dear Kong Hee has violated the set of human rules, then does it matter if his church feels that he is not wrong...when the rules say that he does...then Let the Human Judge sentences him according to the social norms and rules of the land and whatever that happens in his church is only relevant to him and his followers and not to the Judge or any legal principles which must be abided to...